Fall Aerating and Overseeding

[CascadeClone]

Question for the soil people. My new place has 2 acres of basically city park type conditions. The grass is not great, and the soil is somehow both hard as concrete (old maples that are above grade with roots above ground) yet really kind of sandy (lots of anthills and ground bees). What to do to make it better?

I'm not going to dump a ton of chemicals on it, and it certainly doesn't need to be a showcase lawn. Would aeration help? Some kind of soil additive? TIA.

 

[spierceisu]

Question for the soil people. My new place has 2 acres of basically city park type conditions. The grass is not great, and the soil is somehow both hard as concrete (old maples that are above grade with roots above ground) yet really kind of sandy (lots of anthills and ground bees). What to do to make it better?

I'm not going to dump a ton of chemicals on it, and it certainly doesn't need to be a showcase lawn. Would aeration help? Some kind of soil additive? TIA.

Mine is newer construction (built in 2016) and I am thinking it is like most new construction they scrape off a lot of the top soil and put sod down on top of it. This means that there is a lot of clay. I am banking that aerating will definitley help. Especially if I do it and let the freeze/thaw action do its thing. I bet aeration would help.

 

[ruflosn]

You forgot to specify "kilograms".

After the rain this week, it's time to dig in ladies and gentleman.

 

[spierceisu]

I am trying to decide what to overseed with. I was thinking of a blend of perennial rye, bluegrass, and fescue, but thinking about leaning heavier on bluegrass. I do not have an irrigation system and I know it takes quite a bit longer for KBG to emerge. The reason I am asking this is I will have to move my sprinklers quite a bit since my lot is .3 acres plus so watering will take a lot of time and effort. What is everyone's recommendation to overseed with?

 

[davegilbertson]

I know it is still a ways off yet, but when should I plan on aerating and overseeding this fall? I plan on renting an aerator and overseeder and doing it myself. My lawn was not looking good this spring after we moved into the house late last fall. I decided to dethatch and fertilize around Memorial Day and it backfired due to no rain happening after that. It is now back to where it was before dethatching. I have no idea what the people who lived in the home previously did for lawn maintenance, but I hope I can get it up to my standards with some TLC. When I overseed in the fall, do I need to water it, or should I let the spring rains do their thing?

So I'm a first time home owner (just one year in) and lawn service is pushing this on me hard. How important is it? Mind you, I'm not one who takes a lot of neighborhood pride in the lushness of my chemically maintained lawn, my back yard is 75% fully shaded, and I'm dealing with a pesky group of moles/voles.

How bad is it if I don't aerate/overseed?

 

[jdcyclone19]

So I'm a first time home owner (just one year in) and lawn service is pushing this on me hard. How important is it? Mind you, I'm not one who takes a lot of neighborhood pride in the lushness of my chemically maintained lawn, my back yard is 75% fully shaded, and I'm dealing with a pesky group of moles/voles.

How bad is it if I don't aerate/overseed?

I've been battling moles all summer. Ive trapped a few but that didn't slow them down. Finally resorted to some victor poison peanuts and that stuff actually worked really well. Only real option is to eliminate their food source but that means applying grub killer on the lawn for a few years and with the kid and dog, I'm not going to do that.

If you have brown spots and uneven grass, aerating and overseeding will help. Just need to have a good spring to see the difference. I aerate and overseed every other year. Especially with moles, if you don't do something, those tunnels will show up bad the next year.

If you don't do anything, it'll look about the same but start to decline every year.

 

[iowastatefan1929]

i know it supposedly doesnt work but im trying pelletized gypsum instead of aereating, i areated last year and blah no difference, also just dropped the gypsum and grass seed covered with a ton of natural fertilzers and compost, grass popped in after 7 days really well, started the process about a week ago.

 

[FallOf81]

I double aerate. Overseed like crazy. Use a starter fertilizer. I see great results. Don't cheap out on the seeding rate of application.

 

[iowastatefan1929]

lets talk about wood chips or mulch and building a mycelium network under your soil instead of aerating, thats my new theory, have a load of wood chips being dropped off from chip drop any day

 

[khardbored]

I dont remember the last time i mowed. Its so dry and dormant out there. I would hate to try to aerate soon.

My lawn has decided that some spots need to be 100% dormant (maybe even dead) and others need to grow like crazy. So I have to mow to make it look like someone lives here.

 

[spierceisu]

A group of my neighbors and I ended up going together and renting a ride on aerator. There were a total of 9 people who used it so it only cost $30 each to do it. I plan on overseeding next weekend assuming there are some chances of rain after. I plan on watering too, but some rain would be nice.

 

[CYEATHAWK]

I double aerate. Overseed like crazy. Use a starter fertilizer. I see great results. Don't cheap out on the seeding rate of application.

Same here but the aerating. I let the worms take care of that.

 

[chuckd4735]

Quick question for anyone in the know. I have an area along my curb that is all crabgrass/weeds. I want to essentially kill the entire area and replant it this fall. I'm going to guess the only way to successfully do this will be to dig up the grass and replant, as using anything to kill it will essentially hurt any chances of regrowing this fall? Thoughts?

 

[DSMCy]

Quick question for anyone in the know. I have an area along my curb that is all crabgrass/weeds. I want to essentially kill the entire area and replant it this fall. I'm going to guess the only way to successfully do this will be to dig up the grass and replant, as using anything to kill it will essentially hurt any chances of regrowing this fall? Thoughts?

Round up works by being directly applied to plants, the plants absorbing the chemical into their roots, and killing them. It doesn't remain active in the soil. Others may disagree with this, and there are studies that disagree with me, but as long as you aren't pouring the round up on the ground, you should be good.

I'd say give it 2-3 weeks after you Round Up the area, then rake it to get rid of all the dead grass/weeds. Should be good to go to reseed at that point.

 

[MustardTiger]

Quick question for anyone in the know. I have an area along my curb that is all crabgrass/weeds. I want to essentially kill the entire area and replant it this fall. I'm going to guess the only way to successfully do this will be to dig up the grass and replant, as using anything to kill it will essentially hurt any chances of regrowing this fall? Thoughts?

No, roundup (example) is a contact killer. It will only harm what it touches and dries to. People will tell you they've sprayed roundup in a spot before and nothing ever grew back. This is not due to spraying roundup.

Ryan Knorr is a local guy that puts out a ton of content on youtube. No idea if anyone here has an opinion on him one way or the other, and don't really care. But most of his stuff is made for central Iowa lawns and lawn care. Really informational.

 

[MustardTiger]

Round up works by being directly applied to plants, the plants absorbing the chemical into their roots, and killing them. It doesn't remain active in the soil. Others may disagree with this, and there are studies that disagree with me, but as long as you aren't pouring the round up on the ground, you should be good.

I'd say give it 2-3 weeks after you Round Up the area, then rake it to get rid of all the dead grass/weeds. Should be good to go to reseed at that point.

See, DSMCy gets it! But I would say 2-3 days, not weeks.

AND you have to water the **** out of new grass seed. something like 60-70% of all new seed dies due to lack of water. ESPECIALLY KBG. It has a germination period of like 18-21 days. That's why its so effing hard to grow.

 

[khardbored]

I have an area that the former owner decided would be a good place for a rock garden, then later he put spoil and seed over ( ) it. I have had it die completely 2 of the last 3 years. It grows real nice in the fall and spring, then just can't handle the summer even with frequent watering.

Does it have any chance? Based on "poke tests" I would guess the soil is about 2-3 inches deep, then quite a bit of gravel underneath.

 

[SECyclone]

I have an area that the former owner decided would be a good place for a rock garden, then later he put spoil and seed over ( ) it. I have had it die completely 2 of the last 3 years. It grows real nice in the fall and spring, then just can't handle the summer even with frequent watering.

Does it have any chance? Based on "poke tests" I would guess the soil is about 2-3 inches deep, then quite a bit of gravel underneath.

My storm sewer runs through the yard and a lot deeper. I don’t think you’ll ever sustain grass. Best bet would be to dig it all up and start over.